1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to energy transmission for medical/surgical ablation devices and assemblies and methods of their use. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to cooling microwave energy transmission cables that deliver microwave energy to microwave antenna devices and assemblies.
2. Background of Related Art
In the treatment of diseases such as cancer, certain types of cancer cells have been found to denature at elevated temperatures (which are slightly lower than temperatures normally injurious to healthy cells). These types of treatments, known generally as hyperthermia therapy, typically utilize electromagnetic radiation to heat diseased cells to temperatures above 41° C. The body may maintain healthy cells adjacent the diseased tissue at a lower temperatures where irreversible cell destruction will not occur by maintaining sufficient blood flow. Other procedures utilizing electromagnetic radiation to heat tissue also include ablation and coagulation of the tissue. Such microwave ablation procedures, e.g., such as those performed for menorrhagia, are typically done to ablate and coagulate the targeted tissue to denature or kill it. Many procedures and types of devices utilizing electromagnetic radiation therapy are known in the art. Such microwave therapy is typically used in the treatment of tissue and organs such as the kidney, lung, prostate, heart, and liver.
One minimally invasive procedure generally involves the treatment of tissue (e.g., a tumor) underlying the skin via the use of microwave energy. Tissue may be accessed percutaneously, or through the skin, and the microwave energy further penetrates the adjacent tissue to ablate large areas of tissue. However, treatment with microwave energy requires the transmission of energy at microwave frequencies from an electrosurgical generator to an ablation device and the transmission often results in problems such as inadvertent discharge of microwave energy and/or transmission line heating.
Although there are various means for transmitting microwave energy, the most common means in medical ablation involves use of a coaxial cable. While high quality coaxial cables are designed and manufactured to minimize and/or eliminate inadvertent discharge of microwave energy all coaxial cable experiences a temperature increase while delivering microwave energy.
The present disclosure describes a coaxial cable cooling apparatus including a housing with various active and passive cooling means and methods.